Seaice in the Arctic Circle.Sincethe mid-2000s, low minimum extents of Arctic sea ice have become th

Seaice in the Arctic Circle.Sincethe mid-2000s, low minimum extents of Arctic sea ice have become the“new normal”.  The lowest on record since 1979 was in 2012, whensea ice covered only 3.41 million square kilometres.  The averageSeptember extent has declined 13.4% per decade from 1979 to 2015. Arctic sea ice is lower today than in the 1980s and 1990s, in everygeographic area, month and season.Manyglobal climate models predict that before the end of this century,the Arctic will be ice-free for at least part of the year.  Somemodels predict that it will be entirely ice-free by mid-century.Decliningsea ice will cause a habitat loss for seals and polar bears, andprobably increase encounters between polar bears and humans. Indigenous peoples in the Arctic have already described changes inhealth and numbers of polar bears.Assea ice retreats from coastlines, wind-driven waves and permafrostthawing will likely lead to more rapid coastal erosion.  Weatherpatterns will probably also change.Somepeople suggest that melting sea ice could interfere with oceancirculation.  When ice freezes, it loses salt to the water, below,increasing its salinity.  In the Arctic, ocean circulation is drivenby the sinking of this dense, salty water.  Fresh meltwater (comingmostly from the Greenland Ice Sheet could interfere with oceancirculation at high latitudes, slowing it down.  Changes in locationand timing of sea ice growth may also be an important factor. -- source link

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